Locating Resources
to Improve Your Technology Skills
Peggy Maslow
After attending the Tech-to-Go conference in New York City on November
9th,I realized that the most important thing I could write about
was that such conferences could be very useful. Even though I have
been using new technology with my students for 4 years, I learned
new ways teachers could use technology in all subject areas. Finding
new resources and devoting some time to learning new techniques
will expand your ability to use technology in the classroom.
The best way to learn about conferences for technology in education
is to ask the people responsible for technology education in your
school district or school. You can also do an advanced search and
type in three words," education technology conference." When I did
this, I came up with many conferences, in locations as diverse as
Tennessee, Washington State, and Texas. Some are free. You might
be able to ask your school district to pay for those that are not.
Other ways to learn about how to use technology in your lessons
with your students is from courses given by graduate schools. I
took two summer courses offered by the City University of New York.
They were sponsored by the New York City Writing Project, which
is run out of Lehman College in the Bronx. The National Writing
project is a national organization with branches all over the country.
I highly recommend any course they give for teachers of all subject
areas. In one of these courses I actually produced lessons and web
pages I used with my classes. Their web site is
http://myclasssite.org.
The link to the National Writing Project is
http://writingproject.org/; go there to find a branch near
you.
One resource near and dear to my heart is TeachNet. TeachNet is
a program for K-12 public school educators interested in developing,
digitizing, and disseminating web-based curriculum materials. TeachNet
offers workshops to help teachers develop curriculum design skills
and to learn effective methods of implementing web-based content
and activities. Teachers present their work at local and national
conferences. I worked on units published by TeachNet. Many units
are already online and available for use. It is a great way to bring
technology into the classroom. For access to
already published materials available at all grade levels, go
to http://teachersnetwork.org/TeachNet/
For more information about joining TeachNet, go to
http://teachersnetwork.org/teachnet-lab/TeachNetblastsept.htm.
In conclusion, if you need to become more technologically literate,
look around for opportunities. Then be willing to devote the time
to learning how to use technology in education. |